Of Blushing and Bludgers
by ParisienneGryffindor
Summary: If there was anything that Katie Bell couldn't stand more than Oliver Wood, it was being woken up by Oliver Wood at 4 am.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Wake up

If there was anything that Katie Bell couldn't stand more than Oliver Wood, it was being woken up by him at four in the morning. It wasn't that they weren't friends, because they were. They had been best mates ever since their parents arranged for Oliver to teach her how to ride her new cleansweep at the age of eight. Although they had considered each other best friends ever since that serendipitous July morning, Katie had also developed a crush on Oliver as soon as they met. It was beginning to get frustrating after so many years, to be honest. There was always that _something_, a sort of tiny spark hovering between them, but if he wouldn't acknowledge it there was no way she would. So really, she loved his company, but at the same time she couldn't stand to be around him so often. Why? You may ask. Well, considering that she had had a constantly escalating crush on him since eight years ago, it had a lot to do with the fact that while he was rambling on about Quidditch as she listened, she had to fight a rather overwhelming urge to forcibly drag him to a broom cupboard and snog him senseless.

So you see, being around him ended up being quite uncomfortable for Katie. Awkward was almost an understatement for her seemingly one sided attraction, whatever it was. And she hardly could expect him to notice her discomfort. He was completely oblivious to the degree that he never realized that whenever he threw an arm over her shoulders after a Quidditch game she always blushed violently. But he was Oliver after all, and they did spend a lot of time together. She couldn't try to avoid him, it was pointless. She was a terrible liar. If he were to ask why she was avoiding him, and he undeniably would, she would end up telling him the truth. And _that_ would most likely ruin their life-long friendship.

This particular morning, Katie was in no mood to be woken at 4 am. She was having a nice dream in which she was walking on the beach with Oliver, hand in hand. He began to speak her name softly "Katie, Katie, wake up." _What?_ No way was she going to wake up right now. No bloody way.

He seemed to have switched tactics and was now shaking her bare arm, which lay on top of the covers, unwittingly causing shivers to trickle down her spine.

"Katie, c'mon it's time to wake up mate." _Ugh_,_ he was calling her 'mate'...?_ Her dream bubble popped quickly and she opened her eyes for a moment, and squinted blearily at him.

"No way Oliver" she grumbled sleepily, and went back to sleep.

"Alright then, have it your way" his lilting brogue replied, in a tone too cheerily loud for this hour in the morning. He climbed onto her bed, which creaked under his muscular mass and began jumping up and down like a five year old. Katie covered her ears against the obnoxious creaking, but there was nothing she could do to stop from flying slightly into the air every time his feet hit the mattress, and then being thrown back onto it. Over. and. over. Katie tried to ignore it and keep sleeping, but after few minutes, enough was enough. Her eyes snapped open in a fury, as she took in the dim morning light. She leapt onto her feet in a flash.

I said, I **don't want** to wake up Oliver!" she snapped at him and promptly tackled him. He fell onto her bed with a startles "Oof!" as she landed heavily on top of him. She took a deep breath, about to begin a rant, when-

"Umm Katie.." Oliver groaned in an awkward voice, his face turning red.

"Yeah?" she asked in a squeaky voice, caught off guard by his tone. He only coughed uncomfortably, as if he expected her to read his mind or something. Katie was quite confused about the turn of events. _What was wrong?_

A perplexed look flitted across her face for a moment, before being replaced with one of concern. He looked more flushed than she'd ever seen him.

"Are you sick?" she asked in a soft disquieted voice. She placed her hand on his forehead. It certainly seemed like he had a fever. _He shouldn't be heading to practice at this hour if that was the case._ Her healing instincts kicked in and she grabbed his wrist to check his pulse. It raced under her touch. _He hadn't even answered her question, something must really be wrong. _Her previous anger towards him evaporated swiftly. He seemed unable to speak.

"Oliver what's wrong?" she demanded. She was becoming anxious, to a degree that she hardly even noticed their close proximity, or had a chance to react to it.

"Umm, Katie. You do realize that you're not wearing very many clothes, right?"

"Bludger!" she cursed, quickly moving off of the bed and grabbing for her robe, which wasn't there. _Darn it!_ She was only wearing a rather baggy puddlemore united t-shirt that Oliver had given to her two Christmases ago and underwear, which were unfortunately and embarrassingly lacey . She tried to search for her robe and be invisible at the same time, which wasn't working out very well. Finally she realized that Oliver was unwittingly lying on top of it, still blushing.

"Sorry Oliver, I forgot about...my...my attire. Could you hand me my robe please, you seem to be lying on top of it." She spoke as if it was no big deal for him to see her in her knickers, trying to make things less awkward if possible. It could have been worse, but still... He sat up and handed it to her, still blushing. Only her equally flushed face gave away her embarrassment. She tried to remain composed, but was struggling.

"No matter, see you at practice, yeah?" he said quickly, looking at his feet. She tugged her robe tighter around herself.

"Sure!" she squeaked a little too loudly as he strode to the door. "Oh and Ollie?" she asked as he opened the door, "please forget that happened."

**To be continued...**

**This is my first harry potter fanfiction, although I've read more than a few. I'm thrilled to finally be writing one. Katie and Oliver are just about my favorite pairing. The next chapter will be posted soon, especially if you review. So please review, if you like this story and you have a moment. Thank you!**

**Oh and if anybody happens to like Downton Abbey or Jane by Design, you can check out my other fanfics on my story list. **


	2. Chapter 2: Practice

**Sorry for the wait, school and homework are honestly very time consuming. But :D thanks for your follows and reviews. I'll do my best to post the next chapter soon.**

Chapter 2: Practice

Still in a daze, Oliver went to wake the rest of the team. He was trying to come up with new tactics for their upcoming game against Hufflepuff, but his mind was beyond confused about what had just happened with Katie. It had been exceedingly awkward, more than it should have been to see his best mate in her knickers. It shouldn't _really_ have been that big of a deal, people changed all the time in the locker rooms. He never really notice or cared, theoretically he probably even _had_ seen Katie in her underwear before, and he couldn't have cared less. So why did he care now?

He wasn't really surprised that she had tackled him, to be honest. That was just the way he and Katie were with each other. If they were annoyed with one another they just dealt with it then and there and moved on. But this time, he had felt like he was burning up, he felt oddly flustered to her proximity and her state of dress. She had made him feel lightheaded, _maybe_ _he was sick after all_. Because it couldn't be possible for him to feel so..._attracted?..._ to his best mate. Right? _Had he really been speechless, how embarrassing!_ She was probably afraid that he'd start lusting after her now. Probably not, though. The nice thing about Katie was that she had an innocent way of never assuming the worst.

Maybe she'd been too embarrassed to notice his racing pulse and flustered complexion. _Nah.. _She'd been afraid that he was sick, which meant that she'd definitely noticed. Hmm, maybe he should pretend he was sick and call off practice.

It was too late though, because his legs had already carried him to the locker room entrance. Usually he was the first one there, but after nearly hitting his head on the door he opened it to find that Katie was already there, dressed for practice.

"Oh, hey Ollie" she said offhandedly. She sounded casual, _too casual in Oliver's opinion_. It was clear that she was trying to force the recent past into a state of oblivion, as if the happenings of that morning had cyclically evaporated into the strands of time. It took him a long minute to realize that she was staring at him intently, expecting a reply.

"Good morning, Bell" he said stiffly, all business. When he didn't continue to speak, she turned away and began to tie her shoes. He began drawing out Quidditch plays on the chalkboard.

Katie's POV

The white chalk squeaked painfully in Katie's ears. Trying not to stare at Oliver, she braided her hair and watched him out of the corner her eye. She loved to see him in his element, immersed in Quidditch. _Why did he have to be so unsettlingly eye-catching. _He finished diagramming the plays while the rest of the team filtered sleepily into the locker room. Then he passed out small sheets of parchment, which glittered slightly and seemed to be enchanted. They looked like ballots of some sort.

"Alright team," he began brusquely. "I've decided that it is in our best interests to use code names when discussing tactics outside of the locker room in order to prevent other teams from finding out our new plays."

"Everybody will write down the best nicknames that they can come up with for their fellow team members, the papers I have handed you will then change into ballots and you will be able to vote for their nicknames democratically. You are not allowed to see the names suggested for you until your teammates have already voted on your new code name." He began passing out small sheets of paper to everyone.

"Oh, and please avoid obvious nicknames, as that defeats the purpose."

The team began scribbling feverishly, most giggling as they wrote. About 10 minutes later, Oliver cleared his throat loudly.

"Alright team, your new tactical nicknames are as follows..." Katie enjoyed listening to Oliver list the code names that they would now be using. His own, Kilt, was quite amusing in her opinion. As was Harry's, "Armpit" which Fred and George considered to be a hilarious pun on his name. They laughed uproariously until Potter silenced them with a glare. The twins took their own ridiculous nicknames into stride, Smash and Crash respectively. Angelina became Swish and Alicia Flash. Both seemed pleased with their nicknames.

Finally Oliver came to her own new code name. "Bell, knickers" he stated seriously. The team burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Wow, Katie" Fred laughed with tears beginning to form in his eyes. "I think you got the best nickname."

"Yeah, I'm seriously jealous" added George.

"I'm not." giggle Alicia.

"I'm sorry, Katie," Angelina struggled to say through her laughter, "but it's just so hilarious. What a paradox!" The whole team burst into another round of laughter. Katie sat there in shock for a minute, before she came to her senses.

"What..how..?" she spluttered.

"I'm just curious who suggested it Katie." Harry added, struggling to sound serious as his eyes gave away an amused twinkle.

"How could you guys vote for that!?" she exclaimed furiously. She glared at Fred and George in blame, believing them to be the inventors of her horrid misnomer.

"Well of course we voted for it Kates," George said in a mirth filled voice,

"But honestly," Fred added "we weren't the ones who came up with it." The team stopped laughing, puzzled by the turn of events. They too had been certain that Fred and George had been the culprits. Taking advantage of the silence, Katie searched for her team mates faces, looking for signs of guilt. They all seemed to be holding back laughter, but their obviously amused expressions also revealed innocent confusion. They too appeared to be searching for whoever made up Katie's nickname. As her eyes traveled around the room, only a single face failed to pass her test. _Oliver..._ As her eyes met his he smirked, his eyes glittering with suppressed laughter. He looked anything but innocent. _Of course..he would refuse to let go of the awkwardness of the morning, it was such an Oliver thing to do._

"Oliver Wood!" she exclaimed in latent shock, "you didn't!" Her team mates gazed open mouthed as an appropriately ashamed blush bloomed upon their captain's face.

"Of course not.." he protested weakly, failing to convince anybody at all.

"Whoa mate, what haven't you told us?" George inquired in an odd tone. A concerned look flitted across Angelina's face before she began giggling again.

"So Kilt and Knickers, what's the secret love affair you two seem to you two seem to be having?" Both immediately blushed even brighter shades of red.

"What?!" said Oliver in a shocked tone "I didn't mean it in that way guys, I just thought it would be funny.."

Katie groaned and hid her burning face in her hands... _how could he have been so thick? Of course people would misconstrue such a ridiculous nickname._

"Can I please request a different nickname?" she pleaded sweetly, peering through her fingers. Angelina shifted in her seat, about to support Katie, when Oliver ordered "absolutely not! If I'm Kilt then your Knickers."

"Ugh, I can't believe you!" she retorted. _Why would he do that when she had made clear they were to forget this morning had happened. _He only shrugged in response.

"You promised to forget that!"she nearly yelled at him, her voice rising in anger. She spoke before she realized the implications of her words.

"No way?" Alicia questioned disbelievingly. Everyone's eyes seemed to be flitting between Katie and Oliver, shock written plainly in their expressions.

++Oliver POV++

Oliver watched in embarrassment as his scheme went horribly wrong. It was supposed have been a humorous way to pass off the events of this morning as a joke. But as Katie struggled to ward off her team mates assumptions, blushing furiously, it was clear the plan had backfired.

"Alright, it's time to get out on the field. Its only basic drills today" Oliver announced firmly. The team filtered out of the locker rooms quickly, Katie in the lead, nearly marching in her anger.

He followed them out, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong. They were best mates, and best mates joked with each other every so often, right? But as they mounted their brooms and took off, something in Katie's body language told him he had crossed a line. And a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach told him there was no crossing back.

**Thanks for reading! Please review if you have time, it means a lot...and encourages me to update sooner.**


	3. Chapter 3: Blackmail

Chapter 3: Blackmail

Katie watched furiously as Oliver got off his broom and announced the end of practice. Fuming, she floated to the ground with the others and prepared to give Oliver a _very_ deserved talking to. No one could get away with waking Katie Bell up at 4 am and calling her 'Knickers' in the same day and expect to get away with it unscathed. She was too embarrassed earlier to reprimand him as she ought to have done. Now though- _well actually she was still mortified to be honest_- she was determined. Broom in hand, she began to stalk angrily after his retreating figure.

"Oliver Wood! Come here this instant!" Katie yelled formidably. His stride quickened, he was pretending he didn't hear her. But as she continued to march after him, she thought of the one thing she could do, the undeniable threat in her back pocket- blackmail.

"Oliver Wood, turn around and face me like a man or I'll write to your mum and tell her what you did!" An audible gasp was heard from the rest of the team who had paused at the locker entrances to hear what was going to happen next. It was common knowledge that if Mrs. Wood ever found out that her son had been anything other than a perfect gentleman, Oliver would be certain to never hear the end of it. Oliver seemed to realize this as well, because he turned around slowly and closed the gap between them with a few footfalls. They were now face to face, less than a foot away from each other.

"You wouldn't." he managed to say, the shock and anger apparent on his annoyingly handsome face.

"Wanna bet?" she said in a falsely sugar coated Scottish accent, mocking him derisively.

"Katherine Bell" he said, taking a step closer, they were practically nose to nose. Even in her current anger Katie couldn't help but notice as her heartbeat quickened, thrumming incessantly in her ears. "By attempting to blackmail me, you may just find yourself in a dangerous position."

"How so, Captain Wood?" she retorted, her voice lowering in anger.

"Well, I could always write to your dad and-"

"Oh shut up." She snapped, cutting him off, and rolling her eyes at his empty threat, Oliver knew she was her daddy's little princess, it would be near impossible to get her in trouble so easily.

Before Oliver had a moment to react, she was kissing him furiously. He was in shock at first, but began to respond quickly and kiss her back. And then she was gone, jogging off the field, only pausing to yell behind her-

"Don't think that I'm not still mad at you, because I absolutely am, Oliver!"

He could tell that she was blushing, even though she was already several yards away. Bloody hell, what had just happened?

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooo

The next day Katie ate breakfast at the opposite end of the table, which ended up being near the twins and a clump of first years. She ate quickly and left the table as soon as she was done, making her way to the library to get some studying done for her upcoming charms test.

When she was about halfway to the library, on the stairs, she heard footsteps catching up with her. She turned around and to her surprise met the sight of a very apologetic looking Oliver Wood.

"Had a change of heart have you?" she said sharply. She was never one to forgive easily.

"Honestly, Katie. I'm sorry if I crossed a line with that whole idiotic nickname thing. I don't know what I was thinking."

"Yeah, well…" she trailed off. Apologizing didn't come very easily to her. "Sorry I tried to blackmail you..."

"No problem, its already forgotten."

"So I can change my nickname then?"

"About that..."

_Seriously, he was going to say no? And it had been going so well..._ Seeing as things appeared to be going nowhere, Katie turned and once again started towards the library.

"Katie, stop! Wait!" he called running after her and spinning her around by her elbow.

She gasped to find her face inches from his. Her heart began to pick up its pace. He was breathing fast too. And for a moment they just stood there.

"I never said 'no' Katie. Meet me tonight, Quidditch pitch, at seven. We'll settle this the right way." He said breathlessly, his lovely Scottish brogue making Katie feel faint.

"See you at seven" she remarked nonchalantly, and finally made her way to the library, this time he didn't follow her.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooo

At seven o'clock that evening, Oliver was unusually nervous as he walked onto the pitch. There was a reason he chose Katie to play for the Gryffindor team- she was good at it, really talented for a chaser her age. She scared him a bit, honestly. He was always glad that the other teams' keeper had to worry about him rather than himself. _Maybe this wasn't the best idea after all…_

He did a double take when she walked towards him. Instead of her usual ponytail, her hair floated behind her in the wind. When she pulled out a hair elastic and tied it back he found himself feeling oddly disappointed.

"Ready to lose Oliver?" she asked with bravado.

"Yeah right." He replied offhandedly. "So here's how it works: if you win, you choose your own nickname, if I win, I get to give you another one. Either way I'll let you change it. "

"Sounds fair, I guess" she said.

"Best of 9 then?" he asked

"You're on."

tbc

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

**review? suggestions? comments?**


	4. Chapter 4: Competition

Chapter 4: Competition

* * *

Oliver swung his broom to the left, blocking the hoop with his foot, and kicking the Quaffle back to Katie. He watched smugly as it soared back towards her. She zoomed up and caught it, a frustrated look on her face. They were tied now, and there was only one more chance for either of them to win.

"Are you ready to lose Katie?" Oliver's brogue lilted facetiously.

"I wouldn't be so certain if I were you Ollie dear" she retorted. And indeed he did begin to question his chances of winning, for as he spoke a smirk began to form on his opponent's face- the dangerous one. It was the distinctly Katie smirk, that meant she was about to do something daring and no one could get in her way.

Slowly, she undid her ponytail, letting her hair fall loose as it glimmered in the glowing remains of the pink sunset. Oliver had not anticipated this at all, and gulped nervously. She smiled at him, and his heart sped up until it was pounding in his ears. He was slowly becoming mesmerized, and she hadn't made even the slightest move to throw the Quaffle yet.

* * *

He wondered if he ought to ask her to the next Hogsmede trip, and whether she would agree to go with him. She _had_ kissed him earlier after all. That had been an unanticipated, yet surprisingly pleasant experience. He would like to repeat it.

And at that moment, lost in his thoughts, Oliver heard something whoosh by his ear. Nearly falling off his broom in the shock of being awoken from his fantasies, he turned his head to see the Quaffle pass through the hoop. It was too late for him to block it. Katie had won.

He flew to the ground and dismounted his broom. He waited for the impending explosion that his ears knew was coming.

Three…Two… One…

"I won! Take that Ollie! I beat the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team!" she yelled loudly.

He groaned, his ears ringing. He would never hear the end of it.

"Hello….Oliver! Why aren't you celebrating with me? Don't be a sore loser."

"Congratulations." He said flatly.

"I won, and you should be happy for me," she yelled gleefully. And in a classically Katie move, she tackled him to the ground.

He let out a slightly unmanly yell as he fell and was trapped under her. He probably should have been expecting that, he knew better than anyone Katie's tendency to tackle people when she was happy.

Recovering his senses, he inquired smoothly, "Do I get a consolation prize?"

"That depends on what it is" she replied, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Will you go with me on the next Hogsmede trip?"

"We always go together Oliver" she retorted cautiously.

He shook his head, all too aware of the fact that she was still sitting on top of him.

"No, I mean, will you go with me to Hogsmede…on a date?"

She looked at him for a moment, surprise evident in her expression. Slowly, she smiled, and he grinned back at her.

"Absolutely Oliver, it would be my pleasure to accompany you" she said cheerfully.

Gently, he brought her face to his, and kissed her, as he had subconsciously wanted to do for years.

* * *

She sighed contentedly as the kiss ended and he helped her to her feet. Keeping her hand in his, they shouldered their brooms and walked back towards the castle.

"So, you never said, what is your new code name going to be?" Oliver asked.

"I'll have to get back to you about that," she replied happily, "I need to think of something brilliant first."

"I'll be waiting" he added sweetly, his eyes twinkling.

"Oh I'm counting on that" she laughed.

And in their joy induced state they hardly even noticed the applause that filled the crowded common room when they walked in hand-in-hand. Nor did they take heed of the wolf-whistling and cheers that surrounded them as he pulled her to him and kissed her for the second time that day.

* * *

**This is possibly the end of the story, unless you would like me to continue, in which case please review and let me know. Either way...the review box is right there, and it only takes a second :) Thanks for reading! **

** -ParisienneGryffindor**


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